Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (dir. Michel Gondry)

2004, 108 minutes [2nd viewing]
w/ Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo
[Having not seen it in nearly two years I felt an impulse to put it in and see if it still holds up to my great memory of it. Well, it wasn't exactly as I remembered it--it was better. In fact, it's flawless and easily one of the best and the most creative romantic films of all time, on the level of Annie Hall, Brief Encounter and Before Sunrise. Charlie Kaufman is the most profound, innovative screenwriter I've ever had the joy of watch the films of and at this point in his career Eternal Sunshine is his masterpiece. Michel Gondry deserves as much credit for his incredible direction which includes mind-blowing camerawork and a visual feast of colors and dream sequences. The basic plot, which artist Pierre Bismuth came up with the roots for, is a girl (Kate Winslet) erases her boyfriend (Jim Carrey) from her memory. Carrey finds out and has her erased, but during the procedure realizes he still loves her and tries frantically to corrupt the operation so he doesn't forget her forever-effectively ending their relationship without either knowing better. The chemistry between Winslet and Carrey is perfect and Winslet should have won the Best Actress Oscar unanimously, and Carrey at least should have been nominated. But one can only complain about AMPAS's obvious mediocrity so long, so moving on, while ESotSM could have been great with the Carrey-Winslet story alone, Kaufman writes a subplot among characters that include Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson. Gondry switches back and forth between the past, present and surreal as well as separate narrative with such ease that it's hard to believe this is his first major picture. The musical score is perfect. I can only describe so few reasons why everyone should see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but this second viewing assures it a place on my own favorite films of all time list.]

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